Now it was his turn to want to laugh. Instead, he answered equally gravely. ‘Good. We’re agreed.’ But though she was attractive when her eyes glittered withamusement behind her stilted façade, unfortunately, he was here to voice a serious concern. He shifted in his seat. ‘And now I’m going to apologise again,’ he said … apologetically. ‘But I heard you and your sister talking outside and, as my children are on these premises, I’m going to have to ask you why you mentioned getting away without criminal records.’
Ezz turned completely, shockingly white.
Compassion for her obvious distress softened his voice. ‘I expect you’re going to quote some employment law that says I have no right to ask. But you’re not my employees because that honour falls to my parents and when I hear people who interact with my kids talking as if they have shady pasts to hide, my Daddy Bear instincts kick in. I protect my cubs. I hope you’ll forgive me for doing things my own way, but now I’m beginning to imagine sinister reasons behind Thea not wanting to be on camera.’
Slowly, so slowly that it was as if she were ageing before his eyes, Ezz sagged. Her hands rose to her face, and covered her eyes.
Mats watched her, his breathing quickening as his heart rate ramped up at the anguish that rolled off her in waves. How serious was it, whatever she was trying to hide? He swallowed. ‘You can tell me. You can trust me—’
‘Crap,’ she said, her voice muffled by her hands.
Astounded at this blunt rudeness, he halted.
She brought her hands down, revealing an expression that managed to be both hard and woebegone. ‘I can’t trust someone who sends me to a pub without knowing my relationship with alcohol.’
One part of his mind acknowledged that she was trying to deflect the conversation from its original direction, but he was astonished enough to let her. ‘When I asked you totake Josefin to the pub that lunchtime? But then you went there with her yourself. Voluntarily.’
‘There’s a world of difference between being shoved into a situation and approaching it in a planned way.’ From the Stepford employee she’d been till now, Ezz had morphed into the picture of truculence. ‘I could be an alcoholic. You didn’t know that I wouldn’t give in to temptation and go on a bender.’
‘Are you an alcoholic?’ he asked, aware of the conversation careering still further off-piste.
Impatiently, she shook her head. ‘No. But I could have been. My point is that you have no basis for saying I can trust you.’
Mats tried to regain control of an unravelling situation. ‘If I was insensitive, I’m sorry. But if you have a criminal record, I need to know for my kids and probably for my parents.’
Her face was still translucently pale. ‘As you pointed out, your parents are my employers. In Scotland, an employer is allowed to ask me about my convictions – though, to follow the law of the land, they’d first offer me counselling from an appropriate body. For my part, I should disclose any unspent convictions, and certain spent ones, depending on the job I’m expected to perform. ButI don’t have any convictions of any kind, so what I choose to tell you and your parents isnothing.’
Slowly, he said, ‘I’m not sure that’s going to cut it.’
Visibly, she flinched. She turned to her keyboard, typed rapidly, then waited while a shiny black printer nearby clicked and burbled, her hand outstretched to catch the piece of paper it churned out. Then she scribbled on the foot of the sheet, folded it into an envelope and sealed it before picking up her bag and coat and stalking past him.
As he spun on his chair to watch, she approached the white door to his family’s quarters, stuffed the envelope underneath, then marched off towards the back of the house.
Stunned, and wondering what the fuck was going on, he stepped out into reception, where Orla was gazing at the white door, wide-eyed at Ezzie’s bizarre behaviour. Mats treated Orla to a curt nod, and then stormed through the door. Inside, he picked up the long brown envelope. It was addressed to Grete Larsson. Ignoring that, he ripped it open.
Ezzie’s address was at the top, along withFriday 22nd November. The body of the letter was brief.
Dear Grete,
It’s with sadness that I must resign my role at Rothach House with immediate effect.
And a spiky flourish of a signature. He rubbed his chin. For Ezzie to have thrown in her job rather than answer a question, he’d either entirely mismanaged the interview or she had more to hide than he’d thought. Possibly both.
After searching the downstairs rooms for Grete, he ran upstairs to tap at the door to her suite. She let him in with a frown that suggested she hadn’t miraculously returned to her usual tolerant, happy self.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘But Ezzie Wynter has resigned.’
Grete’s jaw dropped and shock registered in her eyes. ‘Resigned?Ezzie?But why?’ She reached for the letter, read it, then flipped it over as if in search of further explanation. Her gaze sharpened. ‘Do you know what’s happening? Why is she not working her notice? Why is the letter so terse?’
He blew out his lips. ‘Let’s sit down, and I’ll tell you what I know.’
As she listened to his account of overhearing Ezzie and Thea’s furtive conversation, Grete’s expression switched from bewilderment to dismay. ‘None of this is like Ezz, but she has seemed subdued ever since the television company rang here – damn them. She was upset when this person pestered her sister a few months ago.’
‘Was his name Fredek?’ he guessed. ‘Thea mentioned that name and sounded frightened.’
Grimly, Grete nodded. ‘Yes, I think that was it. He was the person your father threw off the property for harassing her. But why did Ezzie bring alcohol into the discussion?’
He spread his hands and shrugged. ‘An example of why she couldn’t confide in me, she said. Or to distract me while she decided what to say about criminal records. I thought if I dealt with it, it would be less official than if I brought the situation to you, but she’s left me with no choice.’
